As golf clubs have evolved over the years, modern golfers often carry three and sometimes four wedges to enhance the accuracy of golf shots to a green from about 120 yards or less. The distance a club is designed for is dependent primarily on the loft angle of the club face. For example, a pitching wedge may have a loft of about 50 degrees and sand wedges a loft of about 56 degrees. Relatively recently, lofted wedges have become popular with lofts typically varying between 58 and 64 degrees. Obviously, the distance for which a particular club is used varies significantly from golfer to golfer but for low handicap golfers there is usually a significant difference in shot distance achieved when using a pitching wedge and a lofted wedge.
In addition to club loft, the flight of a golf ball is affected also by the surface of the club which strikes the ball. It is known that the spin control of a ball is affected by the depth and placement of grooves in the face of the club as well as the friction characteristics of the club face surface. Higher friction club face surfaces will impart more spin to a ball as will larger width grooves, sharper edged grooves, deeper grooves and more closely spaced grooves. The ability to impart backspin to a golf ball tends to prevent the ball from moving in a forward direction after it lands on the green and therefore is usually beneficial, but excessive backspin can be detrimental in some cases. For elite golfers, the ability to impart the same backspin to a ball for any of a number of highly lofted clubs would be advantageous.
The principal object of this invention is to provide a series of wedges which vary considerably in loft wherein the spin rate imparted to a golf ball is approximately the same for each wedge, for a comparable swing.